Walking through Viridian Forest's supposed main path was...weird, for me. I had grown up on the knowledge that this forest was huge, but I just never realized exactly how huge it was. I noticed some pokemon in the trees, watching us from a distance. Or, more accurately, watching Ash and the orange haired girl.

I eyes them with skepticism, not trusting them for a second. Sly bastards were probably just planning on ambushing us when we least expected it...unfortunately for them, I had experience with ambushes. It was a common tactic used in the wild, but some pokemon used them more than others. Given how I'd lived my life so far alone, fighting outnumbered was child's play for me.

"Message..."

I froze. That voice again...it just seemed to come whenever it felt like it, to bother me. Was it just a coincidence? Why, though, when I had no clue as to what that...creature...even wanted with me? Why was it still bothering me, even now?

Paranoid, I glanced over my shoulder into the thick trees, scanning for any signs of...tentacles. Thankfully, there were none, but the feeling still pricked at my brain. Although, I say "pricked" when I should say "excruciatingly stabbed". I had a headache again and I had no idea why. Great. I groaned and held my head, feeling it throbbing in rhythm with my heartbeat.

"Are you okay, Pikachu?" Ash's voice snapped me out of my trance for a brief moment. I scowled at him, then winced. I quickly turned away at the look on his face.

"I'm fine," I said, stiffly.

Ash looked dubious. "Uh...er, it's just that you looked like you were in pain, so I just wanted to-"

"What part of 'I'm fine' do you not understand?"

Ash glanced over his shoulder at the orange haired girl, who walked a fair distance behind us. Her eyes were steeled forward and her arms were crossed. A scowl was plastered on her face, rather fitting for her snappy mood. Seriously, I only just met this girl and she seemed to have only two modes: moody and moodier.

Ash bent down slightly as we continued walking, making him look rather weird, and I told him as such. He gave me a weird look before replying with a curt, "thanks", then started his own pestering. "Look, I think...I think this could be a good time for me to get to know you. Or...if you want to trust me, I could tell you about myself, and we could, uh, you know...connect."

I snorted. "What makes you think I'd care about whatever you have to say?"

"Uh, well...can I at least try? I know you might have a hard time trusting anyone, what with you growing up in Mountain-side and all..."

I faltered at that at. I blinked away the tears that I felt gather in my eyes, shrugging it off as a reflex brought on from my headache. "Fine," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'll listen to your little...connecting activity."

"Icebreakers." Ash said.

I blinked, then scowled. "Excuse me?"

Ash yelped and held his hands up quickly in defense. "I was just telling you what the activity is called! Geez...you don't need to get mad at every little thing..."

"I don't get mad at every little thing," I said, defensively. "You're the one who needs to learn to back off!"

"Alright, alright," Ash said frantically. His voice was getting grating to listen to, even though I already agreed to his stupid "icebreaker" activity, and I wanted him to shut up. He really wasn't helping my headache any matters. "I'll back off...um..."

"What is it now?"

"Er...you still want to do the Icebreaker...?"

I blinked then let out a long, drawn out groan. A conflicted expression was on Ash's face, one that made me want to shock him so badly-

"Fine. Whatever. I don't care. How does this work?"

The look Ash gave me could have lit up Viridian City itself. "Well, first is a game of Twenty Questions. We ask each other twenty questions where we can only answer as 'yes', 'no', or 'maybe'."

"Oh, joy. I'm guessing you want to go first?" I said, doing my best to make it look as if I weren't interested. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

"Um...if you're okay with it..."

"Whatever," I muttered. "First question?"

"Oh, er...um..." Ash crossed his arms and stared long and hard at his feet. I had no clue why he thought his feet were so fascinating. Maybe he was trying to figure out a way he could throw his shoes again without looking like a dumbass? "Oh, I got one! Do you have a favorite food?"

"No," I replied immediately. "Next."

"Do you...have a favorite place to sleep?"

"No. And that's a stupid question, too." I added, ignoring his disgruntled look. "Next question."

"Do you have a name?"

"You already asked me this." I snapped. "I'm not answering again."

"So, is that a 'maybe', then?" Ash grinned cheekily. I wanted to smack him.

"Fine. Maybe I have a name. Next question."

"Are you...a fan of flying?"

"No."

"How about swimming?"

"No."

"Dancing?"

"No."

"Do you have any dreams for the future?"

I wasn't sure why, but that question made me feel uneasy. Suddenly my headache resurfaced to the front of my thoughts. "N-no..."

"Do you...want to have a dream for the future?"

"...no."

Ash frowned. "Are you sure?"

I shut my eyes tight, wanting to block him out. What was with him? I've known him for a day, but he just brought out all these weird feelings inside of me that I've never felt before. I hesitated before answering with another "maybe...".

Ash waited a while before asking another question. He spoke quietly, but his voice reverberated through my entire being. It sounded like thunder. "Do you have any family?"

I flinched, feeling my thoughts start to trip over one another. 'Family? Why would he ask-? Do I have a-? No, that's...I don't have a...family, I don't...'

"Pikachu?" Ash asked softly, haven taken notice of my quickened breathing. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to..."

I looked away, trying to quell my uneasy thoughts.

"I'm sorry," Ash said earnestly, and I almost believed him. "Um...you don't have to answer questions anymore...I mean...if you don't want to..."

My ears perked at that. Before I could properly sort out whether or not I really wanted to continue this torture, the orange haired girl reminded us of her unfortunate presence.

"You'd best be careful now," she said, glaring up at the towering mountain in front of us. I hadn't even noticed we had arrived at the mountain, having been too distracted in my own thoughts and Ash's constant questioning. "I'm sure you've heard of Mt. Moon's less than favorable reputation among trainers."

Ash nodded curtly and looked up at the mountain with a steely look. "Yeah. But that's not going to stop me. Right, Pikachu?"

I wasn't sure why he was so insistent in dragging me into every conversation. I sighed. "Can't be any worse than Mountain-side..."

The orange haired girl frowned. "That kind of confidence is going to get you killed, you know."

"Shows what you know," Ash replied. "I'm totally capable of handling myself, thank you very much. If anything, you being here is going to slow us down!"

"Excuse me?!" The orange haired girl snapped. She looked at Ash with a heated glare that I found myself feeling oddly proud of. She scoffed and turned away. "You know what, it's fine. Whatever. I signed myself up for this crap anyway. I guess I'll just have to take responsibility for your safety."

"And Pikachu's." Ash added, for some strange reason.

"Yeah, yeah, and Pikachu's." The girl waved him off. "Now, come on, and stay close to me. If you wander from the main path, then you're on your own."

We made our way inside of Mt. Moon through a large cave. Sharp rocks were embedded in the walls, making it seem a lot scarier than it actually was. I felt myself let out an involuntary shiver and looked over my shoulder a couple times during our trek. If that creature jumped at me again, I wanted to be ready for it.

I found out, a mere two seconds later, that I was not at all ready for that creature...or anything, really, because my headache suddenly became the only thing I could think about. We stopped at an intersection. The orange haired girl muttered under her breath, something about bringing a map and getting lost. I couldn't tell. Ash tapped his feet impatiently and looked around, presumably to catch some pokemon, or do...whatever human boys his age do.

I was trying not to hyperventilate. Or catch Ash's attention. That plan failed as quickly as it had come.

"Pikachu, are you okay?!" Ash asked in alarm. The orange haired girl stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"What's wrong?" She asked as Ash knelt down and began pestering me with questions.

"Nothing's wrong!" I snapped. "Just leave me alo-"

A scream resounded through the area. Ash and the orange haired girl exchanged alarmed looks. I was grateful their attention was off of me, but then the two immediately got up and ran toward the direction of the scream.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." I muttered under my breath as I trailed after them at a slower pace.

These stupid headaches were really pushing me to my last nerve, now. Looking at the pattern of recent events, I really didn't like where this was headed. Was I going to faint again? This is, what, the fifth or sixth time this has happened now?

"Stay close to me!" The orange haired girl ordered as she ran. "The scream came from off the path, so that means there's a grater chance we could get into some kind of-TROUBLE!"

"Misty!" Ash screamed in alarm as the girl suddenly vanished from view. He stumbled forward and fell out of view as well. It was then when I realized the duo had fallen into a hole and skidded to a stop. I peered down and saw nothing but complete darkness, the screams of the two humans getting further and further away as seconds passed. How long was this hole?

'Welp,' I thought, suddenly. 'They're dead now, aren't they?'

I stood there awkwardly for a few moments, wholly unsure as to what I should do. There was no way in hell I was going after those two but I had also never been to Mt. Moon before. If I tried to get outside on my own, I was sure to get lost. Stupid headache prevented me from paying any attention to the directions we went anyway.

So, unless the orange haired girl magically came back to life to help me out of the mountain, I was stuck in here.

I groaned with annoyance and plopped myself down next to the hole. "Greeeeaaat..." I moaned and slumped forward. "It's just one thing after another. Minding your own business in forest hell? Surprise! Some dumb human and her stupid clefairy jump out of nowhere to ruin your life! Trying to destroy some stupid infernal contraption keeping you stuck with the humans? Surprise! Some freak pops out of this magical hole to cause you stupid headaches and even MORE problems than before! Actually forcing yourself to get along with the human you're stuck with? Surprise! He's dead now, so that was ultimately pointless!"

"Excuse me!" A small voice jolted me back to reality and I whirled around, cheeks sparking. I glared at the seemingly innocent caterpie, who was blinking at me as if it hadn't just scared the living daylights out of me at all.

"What do you want?" I hissed and shot off sparks in warning.

The caterpie didn't seem perplexed and instead waddled forward. Was he stupid?

"Sorry I scared you," the caterpie said, but I narrowed my eyes in response. Yeah, right. "But I really, really, really need your help."

"And what makes you think I'd help you?" I snorted. "I just met you and I already find you annoying."

"Oh, really?" The caterpie blinked. Then he giggled. "Oops, my bad. I really am annoying, huh?"

I blinked with surprise, then smirked. "Wow, you're more self-aware than I first thought."

"You know what they say! First impressions aren't always the best impressions!"

"Nobody says that."

"How do you know?"

"I just do!" I snapped, not liking the way the caterpie cocked his head.

"Well, anyway, sorry if you find me annoying, but look on the bright side! As a certified annoyance, I can help you out!"

"...what?" My cheeks stopped sparking.

"Yup! That's right!" The caterpie nodded solemnly, as if I had something to prompt such a response, but I hadn't, so I had no clue why he was doing that in the first place. "It's like they always say, annoyances can be your path to salvation, especially unintentionally!"

"...I don't think anyone says that either." I said doubtfully.

"Of course they do!" The caterpie chirped then leaned forward. I recoiled slightly, not liking the way he invaded my personal space despite me threatening him a few moments ago. "Now, what do you need help with, my fellow comrade!"

Oh great, he was calling me comrade now.

"Look, listen you, you...you stupid-"

"Caterpie," he said.

"Yeah, whatever!" I snapped. "I'm not your comrade, I don't need your help, I don't want your help, and I frankly just want you to go away. And weren't you the one who started pestering me in the first place about how you needed my help?"

The caterpie blinked then started freaking out, inadvertently causing me to freak out as well.

"That's right, I forgot! I was being chased by someone who wants to eat me!"

"You forgot that you were being chased by someone who wants to eat you?"

"YES!" He shrieked, then began to look around frantically. "Ohhhhh, I am SO dead once that...that...that thing catches up with me!"

"What thing?" I raised an eyebrow. "And can you stop moving around so much? You're pissing me off!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry." The caterpie said and calmed instantly. I smacked my forehead in frustration. Not even a few minutes and I already have a burning desire to turn him into charcoal.

"Alright, listen," I said. "I have no time to help you. Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to get out of this stupid place-"

"I can help you!" The caterpie chirped. "I know this place like the back of my non-existent human hand!"

"...you mean, the back of your tail." I said bluntly.

"Nope! Non-existent human hand!"

"...I'm going to kill you."

The caterpie drooped. "Aw...but I like living!"

"...you're on your own, then." I said dryly. At this point I didn't even have enough energy to deal with this stupid thing. "Look, I'm just gonna find my own way out of this place, so you just go...hide behind a rock or something."

"Huh? Why would I hide behind I rock?"

"Because you're being hunted down, you idi-"

I was cut off by the sound of a loud and majestic bird cry. I felt shivers down my spine as my ears shot straight up.

I turned to look toward the direction of the sound and saw a pidgeotto in the distance, speeding toward me and the caterpie in the air. The bird's eyes were sharp and focused and its maneuvers around the sharp, jagged, rocks sticking out inside the cave were not to be reckoned with.

"EEP!" The caterpie shrieked and hid behind me. He nudged me forward. "YOU HAVE TO FIGHT HER!"

I cast him an annoyed look and shoved him forward. "Now, look here-"

The caterpie shrieked again upon spying the pidgeotto getting closer, which inadvertently made me feel paranoid myself. Pikachu weren't usually prey of pidgeotto, but if that one happened to be hungry enough...

Panicking, the caterpie turned to run away, but instead collided straight into me. I lost balance and started to fall backwards-

-into the large, gaping, hole that was right behind us.

...this stupid, stupid, caterpie.

...er...hi?

Right, so, I've been gone for quite some time...five months, now, and...well, I've been dealing with quite a lot. January in particular was...not a good month for me and the accumulated stress just led to things piling up on top of each other until I finally reached my breaking point. I avoided writing anything related to my stories ever since and any time I made an attempt to do so would end in failure, due to me not being satisfied with my own content.

But I guess I've sort of come to realize that I don't really need to worry about perfection. Because...my writing is not that, lol. I went through some things and it took some really good friends to help me get out of my funk. This fic just ending off on the very moment my life felt like a mini-hell was just the icing on the cake of "no more writing because it's bad for you".

I'm also grateful to a friend of mine, Brote. We both made an agreement to help each other with motivation, so I have him to thank for me getting the determination to post this chapter. I'm done trying to reach a set word count: I'm just gonna write and tell the story that I want to tell and share with you all. And that story is that of an angry little pikachu on his path to find his place in the world. Similar to myself, in a way.

So, a big thank you to my readers as well! Chapter updates aren't going to be consistent(Finals are coming up for my school year, so I have to study), but I promise that the output will be a little greater in these coming months.

Thank you!

~Jewel